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Intercession

Every morning I sit here and look at an ever growing list of names on my prayer list. Some of the names are of family, some are close and dear friends. Others are names that have no faces in my mind. Each of those names represents a need of some sort. Mostly the needs are not known to me. But God knows. And that is all that is important. Well, not really. Another very important thing is that each day, those names are carried to God’s ear in prayer by me. Not that I have any more sway in His throne room than anyone else, but it’s my obedience that makes a difference.

Intercessory prayer is one of the most important parts of a Christian’s life.

In 1818, a Scottish poet and hymn writer by the name of James Montgomery (1771-1884) wrote a poem entitled, “Prayer is the Soul’s Sincere Desire.”

It’s not a long poem or a particularly complex one, but when you read each stanza you can feel the urgency that Montgomery felt to encourage people to become intercessors.

Prayer is the Soul’s Sincere Desire by James Montgomery

Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire,
Unuttered or expressed;
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast.

Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear
The upward glancing of an eye,
When none but God is near.

Prayer is the simplest form of speech
That infant lips can try;
Prayer, the sublimest strains
That reach The Majesty on high.

Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath,
The Christian’s native air,
His watchword at the gates of death;
He enters Heav’n with prayer.

Prayer is the contrite sinner’s voice,
Returning from his ways,
While angels in their songs rejoice
And cry, “Behold, he prays!”

The saints in prayer appear as one
In word, in deed, and mind,
While with the Father and the Son
Sweet fellowship they find.

No prayer is made by man alone
The Holy Spirit pleads,
And Jesus, on th’eternal throne,
For sinners intercedes.

O Thou by Whom we come to God,
The Life, the Truth, the Way,
The path of prayer Thyself hast trod:
Lord, teach us how to pray.

Let those last five words of Montgomery’s poem be our prayer today.

Father God, not only do we ask that You teach us how to pray, but fill our hearts with a sincere desire to pray.